An earlier version of this story misidentified one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. He is Bill Wilson.

It’s known as the Big Book, a tract that contains the doctrine for Alcoholics Anonymous, a treatment plan first published in 1939 that sparked a recovery religion with its 12-step program.

Eight decades ago, two of the founders of the movement, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, circulated a draft of the manuscript that would become that book. They and other founders meticulously edited the typed pages, scrawling their comments in pencil and green and red pen.

The end result, published that April, would go on to be translated into 67 different languages and change the lives of millions of people.

Few people ever saw that original working manuscript. Thursday night for the first time it will go on display to a public audience thanks to its owner, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

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The original draft of the manuscript that would become the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, first published in 1939 by Bill Walton and Dr. Bob Smith.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

“Jim Irsay wants the book to be a beacon of hope for those afflicted with addiction issues, to be a positive conversation starter to help reduce the stigma of addiction,” said Larry Hall, vice president of special projects and historical affairs for the Colts. “It’s a very powerful book.”

Last May when the draft went up for auction, Irsay knew he wanted it. Irsay, who first attended an AA meeting 25 years ago, has a family history of alcoholism and also has struggled with an addiction to pain medications.

Irsay deputized Hall to fly out to Los Angeles and bid on the 161-page document at the auction at Profiles in History, a dealer of historic photographs, letters and other documents. About 15 minutes later the manuscript belonged to Irsay for $2.4 million.

Since the purchase, the book has remained in a secure location. Hall produced a pairof white gloves before bringing out the book, each page sheathed in protective plastic. The book will be displayed at Fairbanks’s annual Circle of Hope dinner in a display case.

For years the manuscript stayed in Wilson’s possession. In 1978, according to in inscription in the front of the manuscript, Wilson’s widow Lois gave it to a good friend, Barry Leach, who had helped write her autobiography, according to AA Beyond Belief, an online community of secular AA members.

The following year Leach promised the book to AA World Services upon his death with a signed and notarized letter. Upon his death six years later, however, no transfer was made, and the book was lost for two decades until it surfaced at an auction where it sold for $1.6 million.

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Larry Hall, vice president of special projects and historical affairs for the Indianapolis Colts, shows the original draft.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

A second author bought it for just under $1 million, and in 2010 that owner worked with Hazelden Publishing to bring out a copy of the manuscript, “The Book that Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous.”

When that owner announced intentions to sell the book again, AA World Services sued but seven months later dropped the suit, paving the path to last May’s auction.

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Although anyone who has interest can read “The Book that Started It All,” it’s only a facsimile of the historical object now in Irsay’s possession.

The first time Hall saw the actual manuscript, he said, he knew it was special.

“I was in awe of the book, knowing what it’s meant to so many people, just knowing it's significance,” he said. “I have family members that have struggled and been helped and they have referred this book back to me.”

Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at 317-444-6354 or shari.rudavsky@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter: @srudavsky.